System and method for checkout and customer data capture in commerce applications

Abstract

A commerce checkout and customer data capture system for merchants to deliver commerce functionalities to consumer computing devices for completing purchase and payment transactions includes a commerce application and a commerce gateway server comprising a checkout application and a secure payment application. A plurality of merchants are configured to provide product offers to the consumer computing device via the commerce application, to process purchase transactions with the checkout application, and to receive payments via the secure payment application. The checkout application provides responses to purchase transaction requests including “CreateCheckout” for setting up and capturing purchase transaction data, and consumer related data, “Checkout” for calling a checkout transaction user interface, and “GetCheckoutStatus” for checking status of a checkout transaction. The checkout application further captures additional data used to provide fulfillment capabilities, tax calculation, risk management, fraud control, and targeted marketing analytics.

1 . A commerce checkout and customer data capture system for merchants to deliver commerce functionalities to consumer computing devices for completing purchase and payment transactions, said system comprising:
 a commerce application;   a commerce gateway server comprising a checkout application, and a secure payment application and wherein said commerce gateway server communicates with a consumer computing device via a network connection;   wherein a plurality of merchants are configured to provide product offers to said consumer computing device via said commerce application, to process purchase transactions with said checkout application, and to receive payments via said secure payment application;   wherein said checkout application provides responses to purchase transaction requests comprising “CreateCheckout” for setting up and capturing purchase transaction data and consumer relevant data, “Checkout” for calling a checkout transaction user interface, and “GetCheckoutStatus” for checking status of a checkout transaction; and   wherein said checkout application further captures additional data used to provide fulfillment capabilities, tax calculation, risk management, fraud control, and targeted marketing analytics.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said commerce application comprises one of a native application running on said consumer computing device, a browser based application running on said consumer computing device, or a browser based application running on a merchant server or said commerce gateway server. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said secure payment application comprises e-wallets for consumers and wherein said e-wallets store payment instrument data, fulfillment data, demographics, loyalty information, and transaction history for the consumers. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3  wherein said checkout application comprises means for prefilling checkout forms with said e-wallet data. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3  wherein the consumer fulfillment data comprise one of shipping address, billing address, email address, phone number, or loyalty relevant information. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said commerce gateway server communicates with the consumer computing device via a checkout API and wherein said checkout API comprises one of a web service or a library object. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising level 3 credit card processing data. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising transaction amount, date, tax amount, customer identifier, merchant identifier, merchant security token, merchant postal code, tax identification, merchant state code, ship from postal code, destination postal code, invoice number, order number, item product identifier, item description, item commodity code, item quantity, item unit of measure, freight amount, and duty amount. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising consumer computing device location, and wherein said consumer computing device location is determined via at least one of a GPS, an IP address, or triangulation. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising at least one of consumer computing device type, phone number, device identifier, international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), network service subscriber identifier, or international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI). 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising data for calculating tax based on address postal code. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising consumer risk level data. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein said checkout application sends said consumer risk level data to said merchants. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said purchase transaction data comprise merchant and application identification data and wherein said merchant identification data comprise a merchant identifier and a merchant security token and wherein said application identification data comprise an application identifier, and an application security token. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said purchase transaction data comprise transaction flow control parameters and wherein said transaction flow control parameters comprise one of merchant CallbackUrl, merchant ReturnUrl, or merchant CancelUrl. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said checkout application responds to said “CreateCheckout” request by sending a transaction identifier and wherein said transaction identifier is used in all subsequent checkout operations. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16  wherein said “Checkout” request directs the checkout application to carry out a purchase transaction identified by a specific transaction identifier. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16  wherein said “GetCheckoutStatus” request directs the checkout application to provide checkout status information for a purchase transaction identified by a specific transaction identifier, to display the checkout status information in the consumer computing device, and to provide consumer risk level data and fulfillment data back to the merchant. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1  wherein said consumer computing device comprises one of mobile phone, PDA, payment module, portable computer, personal computer, set-top box, netbook, tablets, iPad, electronic reader, or an internet appliance. 
     
     
         20 . A method for merchants to deliver commerce functionalities to consumer computing devices for completing purchase and payment transactions, said method comprising:
 providing a commerce application;   providing a commerce gateway server comprising a checkout application, and a secure payment application, and wherein said commerce gateway server communicates with a consumer computing device via a network connection;   wherein a plurality of merchants are configured to provide product offers to said consumer computing device via said commerce application, to process purchase transactions with said checkout application and to receive payments via said secure payment application;   wherein said checkout application provides responses to purchase transaction requests comprising “CreateCheckout” for setting up and capturing purchase transaction data, and consumer relevant data, “Checkout” for calling a checkout transaction user interface, and “GetCheckoutStatus” for checking status of a checkout transaction; and   wherein said checkout application further captures additional data used to provide fulfillment capabilities, tax calculation, risk management, fraud control, and targeted marketing analytics.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said commerce application comprises one of a native application running on said consumer computing device, a browser based application running on said consumer computing device, or a browser based application running on a merchant server or said commerce gateway server. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said secure payment application comprises e-wallets for consumers, and wherein said e-wallets store payment instrument data, fulfillment data, demographics, loyalty information, and transaction history for the consumers. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising prefilling checkout forms with said e-wallet data. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the consumer fulfillment data comprise one of shipping address, billing address, email address, phone number, or loyalty relevant information. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said commerce gateway server communicates with the consumer computing device via a checkout API and wherein said checkout API comprises one of a web service or a library object. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising level 3 credit card processing data. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising transaction amount, date, tax amount, customer identifier, merchant identifier, merchant security token, merchant postal code, tax identification, merchant state code, ship from postal code, destination postal code, invoice number, order number, item product identifier, item description, item commodity code, item quantity, item unit of measure, freight amount, and duty amount. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising consumer computing device location, and wherein said consumer computing device location is determined via at least one of a GPS, an IP address, or triangulation. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising at least one of consumer computing device type, phone number, device identifier, international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), network service subscriber identifier, or international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI). 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising data for calculating tax based on address postal code. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said “CreateCheckout” request sets up and collects purchase transaction data comprising consumer risk level data. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31  further comprising sending said consumer risk level data to said merchants. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said purchase transaction data comprise merchant and application identification data, and wherein said merchant identification data comprise a merchant identifier and a merchant security token, and wherein said application identification data comprise an application identifier and an application security token. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said purchase transaction data comprise transaction flow control parameters and wherein said transaction flow control parameters comprise one of merchant CallbackUrl, merchant ReturnUrl, or merchant CancelUrl. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said checkout application responds to said “CreateCheckout” request by sending a transaction identifier, and wherein said transaction identifier is used in all subsequent checkout operations. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35  wherein said “Checkout” request directs the checkout application to carry out a purchase transaction identified by a specific transaction identifier. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35  wherein said “GetCheckoutStatus” request directs the checkout application to provide checkout status information for a purchase transaction identified by a specific transaction identifier, to display the checkout status information in the consumer computing device, and to provide consumer risk level data and fulfillment data back to the merchant. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 20  wherein said consumer computing device comprises one of mobile phone, PDA, payment module, portable computer, personal computer, set-top box, netbook, tablets, iPad, electronic reader, or an internet appliance.